Para-athletes’ navigation of environmental barriers to air travel

Abstract

Barriers that challenge elite athletes with impairment (para-athletes; PA) when flying to international sporting competitions are generally contextualised as a disability - airline issue, outside the realm of sports. This thesis seeks to explore para-athletes’ navigation of socio-cultural and political barriers to air travel. Underpinning this research is the social theory of disability, which purports barriers are socially constructed by those who control the environment and result in cultural discrimination. Additionally, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), that protects and promotes respect for inherent dignity, by rights should be fundamental to para-athlete well-being.Three studies were carried out to explore para-athlete air travel from multiple points of view: (i) organisational policy documents and policy managers’ perceptions of PA air travel, (ii) PA and support personnel (SP) perceptions of their travel experiences, and (iii) an autoethnographic account of the researcher’s air travel experiences. Thematic analyses using grounded processes based on data from surveys and interviews revealed emergent themes, whilst the author’s experiences as a para-athlete were presented and analysed under the justice – injustice theme. The main implication arising from these studies was the consensus that para-athletes are not treated with dignity when they fly.There was a socio-political trend for both sport and airline organisations and personnel to abrogate ownership and responsibility, which in turn perpetuates the status quo of discriminatory practices. PA continue to accommodate sport and airlines’ restrictive practices into their schema by fitting themselves into the air travel environment, often denying that discrimination exists. Specifically, PA revealed they preferred to covertly avoid eating and drinking prior to flying rather than speak out about discrimination against them.There is a need for impartial communication pathways within and between sport and air travel stakeholders. Globally there is a need for the CRPD to clarify and justify the granting of exemptions (e.g., to airlines) and obligate definitive unitary mechanisms for implementing the CRPD principles.